The Haggard and The Falconer - Sheenagh Pugh

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Transcript of The Haggard and The Falconer - Sheenagh Pugh

Kadejah and Laura The Haggard and the Falconerby Sheenagh Pugh trust in relationships To make a hawk, he sits up and starveswith her; stays with her through the pangs,the hooded blindness, the sleeplessness achingin the bones: three days and nights. The effect,oddly, is to bond them, as torturersthe world over could tell you. Afterwardsthey're a team: she'll fly for himand her own pleasure, wear his colours,take food from his hand, saveher meat for him There are some, though,that will not, and until she flies,he has no way of knowing. A haggardis a hawk that takes no partnerand shares nothing. Her keen eyes watchher own chance; the dizzy vertical stoopfrom the air, that catches the throat,is for her; the kill her profitand her delight. The shock at the end of the poem is similar to the end of Duffy's poem 'boy' (page 84). It shifts the poem completely and gives it new meaning. Also, the use of commas in the final stanza mirrors her pleasure - similar to the 'de da de da de da' in 'Girlfriends' and the 'La lala La' in 'Words, Wide Night' When he has gone, she givesherself ecstacies, fetching, in the dark,great raucous breaths, heart hammering,bright-eyed, exhausted. She could showhim how, but she will not: her love lifeneeds no helpmate, and if you can fly,why share it? So he sits,light-headed, chilled with hunger,watching her; awake wonderingwhat she is; whether he has her.Some say a haggard is the faultof the falconer; a wantof devotion; he mustn't fail her.While she is making, he'll scarcely seehis wife: he went in brieflytwo nights ago, before he startedthe hawk. His wife, as usual,lay unmoved, watching himunder her eyelids. There is irony in the title of the poem, because the woman is the one that's in control, despite the representations given in the poem.

The themes in the poem include: power, control, male vs female (hierarchy) and sex, First two stanzas The first two stanzas are about a man who is comparing hmimself to a falconer, trying to tame a haggard, which represents his wife. In the first four lines of the poem, the process of making a hawk is decribed as quite uncomfortable, and therefore makes the reader uncomfortable, as well as it makes the reader see the falconer as "selfless". For the majority of the second stanza, the haggard is presented as a very selfish and malicious being, and comparison to his wife suggests that women share the same qualities of the haggard. The Haggard and the Falconer The ending of the poem is ambiguous, meaning it is open to more than one interpretation, making it unclear. In this stanza it seems as if the falconer's wife is sexually pleasuring herself in her husband's absence because she feels she doesn't need him much like a haggard who will only look after herself."if you can fly, why share it?" shows her selfishness. Last Stanza Comparison to Duffy Poems This poem contrasts quite nicely with many poems found in the The World's Wife collection by Carol Ann Duffy because it isa). told from a man's perspective, whereas in Duffy's poems from The World's Wife, most poems were told from a female perspectiveb). outlining the inadequacies / downfalls of women, whereas in The World's Wife, most poems were outlining the inadequacies of men.

Some similarities between this poem Duffy's "The World's Wife" collection are that they are both about power relationships, disappointment and women creating their own lives. wont alwayswork out ruthless, serves herself obey or work with him? Craft/ skill stereotype of independent women Pain/ struggle makes them closer - like relationships switches to past tense - begins to shift the poem and make it seem more real Suggestion that the wife is like the hawk Shocking twistto the poemthrough structure commas and alliteration parallel her pleasure extended metaphor isrevealed - she is like thehaggard hawk Rhetorical Question other meaning ofhaggard?